Various configurations for conveyors are shown in the prior art such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,049, issued to McClurkin on Sep. 8, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,692, issued to Scogge on Mar. 13, 1990; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,172,926, issued to Wylie on Sep. 12, 1939. These carriers have various mechanisms for moving and rotating packages. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,049 includes three zones for centering, rotating and organizing boxes. The second zone includes a plurality of rotation rollers positioned in rows between parallel rollers. The rotation rollers are fixed at angles which urge a box to both rotate and continue to advance along a direction of movement. The rotation rollers are raised and lowered into and out of contact with the box so the box is properly rotated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,692 discloses an apparatus for controlling the movement of flat bottom articles in a plurality of directions. The articles are supported on a plurality of clusters of helical, freely rotatable rollers mounted on a plurality of shafts. Each shaft lies in one of a plurality of zones, and are selectively driven in clockwise and counterclockwise directions. Selective control of the shafts enables the apparatus to move an article parallel to the longitudinal axis of the platform in two selected directions, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis in two selected directions, diagonal to the axis in four selected directions, and either clockwise or counterclockwise about an axis normal to the flat bottom of the article.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,172,926 discloses a pallet conveyor including a belt having two parallel conveyor chains connected by a plurality of cross-members which are parallel to the chains. The members rotatably support a plurality of rollers or wheels at rotational axes which are parallel to the chains. The wheels facilitate movement of articles relative to the belt in directions perpendicular to the direction of movement of the belt and restrict movement of articles relative to the belt along the direction of movement of the belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,554,038, issued on May 22, 1951 to Lemmon, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,883,005, issued on Oct. 18, 1932 to Shafer, disclose conveyor chains having rollers which form the conveyance surface of the chains. The rollers are supported on the chains so that the longitudinal axes of the rollers are parallel with the longitudinal axes of the associated chains. This configuration allows the chains to be used in conveyors which function in generally the same manner as the conveyor of U.S. Pat. No. 2,172,926.
One drawback with the above-referenced conveyors is their complexity. Another drawback with conveyors using the above-referenced chain configurations is their inability to move articles in a plurality of directions and inability to rotate articles. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a chain driven conveyor system which is capable of providing multi-direction movement and rotation of articles.